Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Yesterday, after my shower (look how fresh and clean I am), I had an idea pop in my head, that I just had to make happen. I got the idea to make Bottle Cap Earrings. Bottle caps, as they are, are just too heavy to have as earrings. Especially filled with wire and resin. I started with my jeweler's saw. I sawed off the "crowns" of matching bottle caps. Then filed the edges.

The sawing was a nightmare, after breaking at least 4 blades, I decided to try utility shears. The saw is nice because it leaves the crowns in tact and I can reuse them in collage art. The shears are much easier to use but turns the crowns into very sharp ribbons of metal. Of course, either way... lots and lots and lots of filing.

After I cut the crowns off, I had to shape the new flat cap discs into something that could hold resin (aka a bezel). Enter my cheap dapping punch set from Harbor Freight. Bang bang bang... flip to another size... bang bang bang... flip to another size... you get the idea. The kids had a half day yesterday too. So they were home and on the computer right next to me as I was banging away. It drove them NUTS!! How fun is that!?! Anytime I get annoyed with them, I getting out my dapping punches and forming bezels, lol.

This is the obvious part... filling up the newly formed caps with wire bits and resin. Yeah... hand sawing and cutting 18 bottle caps was all I could stand, and that took about 4 hours!! My thumbs are so sore. But definitely well worth it. I have never tried to make two caps the same before... it was kinda cool. And something these have, that no bottle caps have had before... GLITTER!!

The resin takes overnight to cure. Oh how I love holding these in my hands!! Only a couple need to be re-poured from overflow. After this picture, I stole Ron's electric drill and started drilling holes in the centers. Lesson learned: drills, no matter how heavy big and tough, do not like to drill trough wire bits. So, when I make the next batch of these (after my fingers are feeling better) I will make sure I leave a little space in the centers of the wire bits for easier (cleaner) drilling.

Of course I have to pop them right in and show them off. This photo is of me sitting in front of my laptop, at the kitchen table, with the camera plugged in, snapping away. And yes, my hair goes red in the sun.

There... now you know what is up with the photos... and we went from what I thought was a fun idea for a Wordless Wednesday to a rather lengthy Wordy Wednesday.

8 comments:

I'm very curious to know what what is going on in the 1st 3 pictures. 1) Drilling holes? 2) It looks like you're cutting a zipper. Who knows what for. 3) I have no idea. Maybe you'll tell us on Thursday?

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The text, images, tutorials, and designs on this blog are the sole property of Kerry Bogert and Kab's Creative Concepts and protected by copyright law. Do not copy, reproduce, or represent any content without the expressed written permission from the artist.